


Touch of the Trachemys

by JeanFi



Category: TMNT - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Brotherhood, F/M, Marriage, Miscarriage, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:02:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4987615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanFi/pseuds/JeanFi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>April and Raph are fools if they think the brothers don't know they are a couple. Once the truth is spilled though, it's a chance for them to start a new life in a new location. But marriage is not the happily ever after that everyone sees.  The truth of life is sometimes death and coming to grips with how to communicate as a couple.  Sometimes even though you are married, it's hardest to share what you are most ashamed of: your own feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Touch of the Trachemys 1  
{G1 + 2014 movie= my own AU}  
TMNT copyright Mirage & Nickelodeon.

 

If April and Raphael thought they were fooling anyone, they were the fools. But out of respect for the couple’s privacy, no one said anything. Amazingly even Mikey has managed to keep it to himself. Subtlety is the least of Mike’s traits, no matter how he tries, but for Raphael’s heart and April’s friendship, he tries extra hard to ignore they are in love. To do so, he leads on that he knows Raphael and April are private confidant-friends and teases them mercilessly so.  
Of course Raphael just has to roll his eyes and ignore those jabs. Him have a soft shell around his heart? HA! Anytime there is a tease that Raph needs April’s shoulder to cry on or couch to spill his inner insecurities to, the bravado comes out and Mikey is running for his life!

Leonardo worries for his friend and has told Master Splinter this. It’s bad enough that April fell in love with someone undercover but even more so, a non-human. Leo is very worried that their hearts will be broken by either biological-fate or by their species and lifestyle becoming too much of strain for them to stay together. He cares for them both very much, and he can not bear the thought of losing either of their friendships or watching them become broken: individually or as a couple.  
Splinter can understand Leo’s concerns very much. He’s has his own fleeting worries in this area as well, but there is something more Leo doesn’t see and tries to help him see a bigger picture. Mikey is so footloose that he wouldn’t know what to do with a stable relationship and it will be a miracle if he could ever pin himself down to just one person. He’s just too excited to explore and taste it all! It brings Michelangelo pleasure to see his tough friend have someone to share his heart with. With so much uncertainty in the world, Raphael and April having someone they can lean on gives Mikey and Donny strength.  
Leo nods into the wisdom Splinter explains to him. He hadn’t thought of it that way before. It does lessen his worries for his brother and friend, but doesn’t make it go completely away.   
And this is what concerns Splinter: After he passes on, Raphael will have April. Donatello will have his science and discovery, Michelangelo will have the whole world to keep him energized, but Leo will have no one. If there is anyone who needs a mate, it’s Leo.

Splinter leaves Leo to meditate and heads off to check on Donatello. As Red Eared Sliders they would have lived about thirty to forty years, which would be fine with a human’s own average life expectancy. Now that they have mutated, their lives could be dramatically shorter or expanded to that of their cousins the tortoises. Their life expectancy is one of Donatello’s many experiments. This particular investigation he has kept silent from the others, except for Splinter.  
Splinter sits down next to Donatello. “How is it going, my son?”  
Donny pulls back from his microscope and rubs his eyes. “Frustrating. I know there is something else I should be looking at, but it’s eluding me, therefore driving me absolutely crazy.”  
CRASH! Breaks through his thoughts followed by:  
“MIKEY!” Raphael’s roar through their little underground home.  
Just as Donatello’s door bursts open, the orange masked turtle dashes through. “Hide me!” he whispers and shuts the door behind himself.  
“What did you do?” Both Donny and Splinter say at the same time.  
That does make the panting one scowl and then eyes shoot wide as the heaviest of the turtle brothers can be heard heading this way. “When I find you, Michael-ANGELO you will BE and angel!”  
“Oh crap!” Mikey scoots under a table covered with spare parts.  
“What did you do?” They both ask again in stereo which makes them laugh lightly.  
“Um, well… they were laughing together like I‘d never heard either of them laugh before and I just wanted to see what--”  
BAM!! the door bursts open with a very angry bareheaded turtle stomping in. His loin-belt is on skewed which immediately answers the rest of Michelangelo’s confession. He pulls a sai from the belt, “Come out you little peeping-creep!”  
Mikey whimpers from under the table which brings a cruel lift to Raph’s lip. But before he can take one step, Splinter lays a soft paw to the angry wrist. Raphael turns to his mentor sucking in a deep breath. He is going to have to explain his anger to his Sensei and that would mean revealing his intimacy with April. That is something he is not ready to discuss with anyone. It’s bad enough that Mikey caught them in the nude, but he really doesn’t want to say anymore.  
So he sadly lowers his angry hand and snarls to the table. “Stay out of my den!” With that he turns on a heel and shuts the door behind himself. If Mikey tells Donny and Splinter then that is actually a relief to him, because there is no way he wants admit to anyone but April he is in love. Not even to his dear sweet father.  
It saddens Splinter that Raphael will not tell him this secret, but in due time he is sure he will. For now though, there is Mikey to deal with.  
“Michelangelo, leave Raphael alone. He deserves his privacy, doesn’t he?”  
Mikey, with Donny’s help gets out from under the table. He remains sitting on the floor, looking up to Splinter. He can see a sadness in the old rat’s eyes. It’s not because he and Raphael are scuffling again, but something deeper. He saw the whiskers droop when Raph left the room without saying anything to him about the fight. Mikey might be goofy, but he knows his family well enough to know those looks. It’s breaking Splinter’s heart that he can’t share in the joy of Raphael being in love.  
So his own head droops. “Yes, Father.”  
“Good, now why don’t you go do a little meditating with Leo.”  
Mikey knows that is not a suggestion either, so he nods again and rises carefully. No need to tick off Donny as well by making a mess of his private quarters like he did to Raphael’s romantic moment.  
As he gets to the door, he reaches back and gives Splinter’s paw a squeeze. “It’s not just a fling with them, Splinter. They really do care about each other.”  
Splinter pats his hand and gives him a good smile. “Thank you, Michelangelo.” Then he squeezes real tight, “But leave them alone.”  
Mikey grimaces and whimpers. “Yeah, got it.” The hand is released and he heads out.

Splinter sighs heavily again as the door closes. Donatello ponders what to say for a few moments before he finally speaks. “I’m just glad he’s in love. He deserves it and April deserves someone who is going to treat her right. If Raph breaks her heart though, I’ll kill him.”  
That does pique the rat’s brows. “Do you want to tell me something, Donatello?”  
Donatello looks away to fiddle with his microscope. His name is said again more softly this time which means he will have to answer. “I had a crush on her, and I’m glad she’s happy, and I’m REALLY glad my brother is happy….” He gives a soft shrug going back to his experiment.  
Splinter gives his sweet son a rub to his neck. “You are both a good friend and a good brother. I have faith that someday all of you will find someone special.”  
Donny’s cheeks flush deep. “Yeah, I do, too.” That gives Splinter’s heart a lift. Donny is not jealous, just very protective and hiding his own secret.

~~0~~  
Raphael makes his way back to his den where he had left April naked under his blanket and in his bed. That brings a rather rakish grin to his face and more studdly rock to the hips in his stride.   
He gives a rap to the door that is their code and then pushes it open. It’s the same one he uses on her apartment window so she won’t shoot him as an intruder. Softly he closes it behind himself and begins to remove his belt. “Now where were we before we got so rudely interrupted?”  
“I’m sorry, Raphael, I got to go.” She gives him a kiss to the cheek and reaches for the doorknob. “I forgot I was meeting Vern and Casey for breakfast.”  
Raph’s hand lays softly on hers and he lowers his head begging her to look him in the eyes. She does. “Are…we okay? Mikey didn’t ruin us, did he?”  
April slips her hand out from under his so that she can wrap both arms around his waist and bring her chin up to touch his. “Mikey can never ruin us. If anything, his interruption made me think of something.”  
That brings his eyes a little brighter. “I want a place of our own. Not too far from your family of course, but I want more for us. I hate being at ‘my place’ or ‘your room’. I want OUR place where we can rummage in the fridge in the buff if we want.”  
Raphael’s whole body sighs with relief and a huge grin comes out. “You know, Donny was just saying the city is planning to do renovations down here soon, and it’s time for us to find a new place.”  
“And that is exactly why I am going to meet with Vern and Casey. There’s an investment opportunity we are looking into together that may benefit all of us.” She leans up and presses a kiss to his lips, “Most certainly you and I.”  
His eyes go dark and he gently pushes her away from himself, “Then by all means, you best not be late.”   
April giggles and then gives him a last warm kiss. “I’ll give you a call later, Soft Shell.” For that he gives her a light swat to her rump as she escapes his den.

~~0~~  
It’s a few weeks later and April has Raphael meet her in an industrial warehouse basement. The basement is well over three thousand square feet. A spiral staircase halfway down one side wall. A huge conduit of wires coming down into another corner. On the floor are lines of tape that indicate where walls will go, and industrial size kitchen equipment. There’s even an area mapped out for weight training and dojo. A bonsai tree has already been set on a beautiful bamboo crate in another taped off section.  
Rising above the basement is a huge building easily eight stories with at least three industrial freight elevators. Raphael looks around the basement and then back to April.  
“Is this what I think it is?”  
She takes his hand and leads him over to a corner by the weight room. Larger than a king size bed is a solid cement platform with a very healthy pile of padding on top of it. “What do you think of your new den?”  
He pats the padding and gives her a smile, “Is this so my bed won’t creak?”  
April laughs giving him a shove so that he lands on his shell and she crawls over the top of him. “OUR bed.”  
He laughs with her and then cups her cheek turning serious. “I like the sound of that a lot.”  
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve been talking to Donny a lot about this because I want to make sure it has the specks he needs for all of his equipment.”  
Raph continues to stroke her cheek. “Does he know about us?”  
That makes her chew on her lip for a moment and then admit, “He said we are the fools if we thought we were fooling anyone. Long before Mikey caught us.”  
Who knew so much air could be released from the large turtle. “Thank the stars.” He doesn’t have to tell April out loud, she knows he just can’t admit to them, but it’s alright if they already know.

She takes him for a tour around the sketched out area. Then with dusk coming, she leads him up a ramp to the back of the property. There more construction has stopped for the day. Hand in hand they walk out to the man-made pond with trees being planted.   
“This area used to be industrial manufacturing. But times change, companies go under or move over seas. Buildings go into disrepair and need to be demolished. Others are still useable, and get converted. The building we are in is going to be a storage units and they need an onsite manager. They said I could have the whole basement as my living quarters and the building inspector has already approved. I told them I would need the extra electronics for sound studio for animated voice-overs and also movie editing. Plus I’m not completely giving up my news career. Thinking about opening an online site, maybe.”   
“You are a very clever one, April O'Neil,” he gives her hand a squeeze.  
“Well I found out about this because of a fluff piece I was supposed to do about this.“ She waves a hand out to the pond. “The guy who owns this property, got this area rezoned to be a wildlife rescue. It will be a semi wild place where injured or maimed animals will have a safe place to live. He knew that a storage unit would bring in enough money for him to fund the animals’ needs and would be low impact.”  
Raph wraps an arm around her shoulder and holds her close. “Father will like it here.”  
Her hand slides over his plastron to stop over his heart. “I’m going to like it here.”  
“Mikey?”  
“There’s the old sewer system, but considering so many of the buildings here have been removed, it’s going to smell a lot nicer. We are far enough away to have our privacy, but close enough with underground transportation to still be here for the community.”  
“I love you, April O'Neil,” he leans in and kisses her under the setting sun.

~~00~~  
It takes a few more weeks, but finally they are ready to moved in permanently. Mikey looks around the place a little excited to be the one to broach the elephant in the room that no one speaks of. “So, April, you keeping your old apartment and giving this to us?”  
Now comes the moment of truth. Everyone knows, and everyone knows that everyone knows, but it’s time to lift the taboo conversation. Raph steps up to April and lifts her hand to his lips while pulling something from under the mask band from beside his temple. To everyone’s shock, including April’s, he lowers himself to one knee holding up a ring.  
What no one else can see and she can barely see through the tears of joy dribbling down her cheek, is a wide gold band with a emerald set deep just barely rising above the band. It’s not cut in exactly a standard ’emerald cut’. It’s in a turtle shell’s cut and engraved into the band is a turtle’s head, legs and even a tiny tail. Set into the turtle’s head are two tiny garnet chips for eyes. Raphael’s red marking. Where a red slider would have his red stripes are tiny bits of rose-gold.   
Sweet laugher bubbles up from her chest with a few more tears slipping out. She pulls a large gold band out from her jeans pocket. “I-I was going to ask you.”  
He can see the band has thin strips of diamonds that are set deep into the band. They are arranged to form the Japanese characters for her name made out of her birthstone. This much gold and even those diamonds must have cost her so much. Still she would give it all up for him. Look at what she did about this place so that he can be close to his family and yet make room for them as mates?!  
“So I take that as a yes?” He chokes, sniffs and smiles to her making it official in front of his family. She viciously nods her head and splays her fingers so he can slip the ring on. Then he holds his own up and she slips the band onto his middle finger.  
Donny and Leo high-three over the top of Mikey’s beaming smile. Still oblivious to the others in the room, Raphael rises up and embraces his mate snuggly. Splinter comes over and strokes both of their cheeks giving them his fatherly blessing. It might not be any kind of a formal ceremony, but it means all the same to this family.  
“I will take your brothers to make sure the old place has no traces of us while you get a moment of blissful privacy.”  
Raph shakes his head softly, “Oh we will be having more of our own privacy, that’s for sure. Donny and I have talked about it! Our den will be Mikey proof.”  
“Nothing is Mikey-proof,” Leo snorts.  
“My heart is,” April says from the safety of Raphael’s arms. Michelangelo lowers his head in soft respect for April, he will not violate her privacy with her mate. “Thank you, all.”  
Splinter gives her a kiss the forehead and Raphael lowers his to receive his own. Splinter then calls the other brothers away. They each give Raph and April their blessing hugs as they head out down the underground tunnel.  
“We have the place to ourselves tonight, my love.” She reaches up and pulls him down for a deep kiss.  
“Yes,” it’s a deep churr with a promise to make their first night as official mates memorable. With just the slightest of dips to his knee, he scoops her up into his arms and carries her to their private room, shutting and locking the door from the inside. “Welcome home.”


	2. Mated Pair

  
Touch of the Trachemys 2  
{Mated Pair}  
  
   This is certainly not the first time they have made love, but it is very different this time. This time, there is no need to hide.  No shame, no need to be reserved in the calls out for each other. There is no fear of being interrupted. Tonight they can take it as slow and as long as they want and as passionately as they need. There will be no hurry to be dressed and back somewhere in time. It’s perfectly alright to fall asleep to later awaken naked in each other’s arms this time.  
   Raphael lays his naked mate out on their new bed. A lovely pile of soft padding for her human body, but sturdy enough for his heavy weight. Long enough for him to stretch out completely, and wide enough he doesn’t have to worry about crushing her in his sleep.  
    April tugs his mask aside and he drops the belt to the floor. A circle of moon light illuminates their bed. Donatello had Solartubes installed to help with natural lighting because they are well underground. Not just to cut down on the electrical use, but also because they could use the natural lighting to bring the place more alive. On a full moon night, it also brings in that light.  
     Raph’s eyes go dark to seeing his gorgeous mate illuminated by the moonlight in their sanctuary. “Perfect.”  
    “Yes you are.”  It’s no tease and she grasps the front of his plastron to pull him down on top.  
    Lips, fingertips, and palms map each other taking advantage of all the time they have to make love. He nibbles on her freckles. She strokes his scars. He licks the veins in her limbs, and she trails her tongue through seams of his scutes.  
     “April…,” the rather brash one is losing his patience once again.  
    There is a wicked look on her face as she gives his shoulders a shove and he finds himself seated up against the wall in a slight slouch. April slides her body down against his and then is playing over what is dripping in need of desperate attention.  
     Now her name is snarled and then hissed as she keeps her eyes on his and wraps her mouth around his very needy erection. This is an image he can never get out of his head. How she loves to just nibble, lick, tantalize and play with him down there. Not just the erection, but his small tail and thick thighs, too. She’s not teasing him, she’s savoring him.  
      April loves all those soft and needy sounds he lets off at her attention. He keeps his emotions in check so often. Well, the softer ones at least, or so he thinks. Anger and frustration he has no problem letting off at both enemy and family alike. But the emotions that truly drive him he keeps safely tucked away. Devotion, love, and …need.  Gosh how he needs her.  
       The change in his sounds is no longer in elation. It’s the fact he needs more of them together. Once again she is sliding against him. This time she is hooking her wrists around his neck and sinking down around him. His jaw drops and grips her hips firmly. Once she has taken him fully in, he’s not going to let her move. He just needs to hold onto this moment of them being fully connected.  
         “My mate,” she whispers to him.  
         “Always and forever,” he pants back softly and then he is ready.  
  
         Those large muscular arm of his come in quite handy when she is becoming weak with passion and her rhythm starts to waiver. Soon he is just holding her in position and he is the one to move his hips.   
       She’s already gone over the edge once, and barely came down when he is bringing her to the abyss once again.  This time, he is going to go over the edge with her. And he does just that with a delicious moan.  
      Spent, April goes limp but not unconscious against him. He wriggles himself down under the covers keeping her firmly against himself. “I could get used to this and never want to move again,” she murmurs.  
       He chuckles nuzzling her forehead, “Well you might want to when I need to take a leak.”  April giggles tiredly yet heartily against him.  
        From here, with the moon lighting the room, he can see their little home. Every den got it’s own bathroom. Every den got it’s own mini fridge, but they also got a small stove. Their den is larger than any of the others making it a mini studio apartment inside this huge basement.  They could easily be in here for a whole week and not need to surface.  
       He taps her head, “You’re thinking.”  
       “I so don’t want to move from here. I know I’m going to have to start my duties as manager in a couple of days, but…”  
       “April, look at me.”  She lifts her head and looks into his soft amber eyes. “Not much is going to change with my brothers. The only thing that will change, is that I don’t have to sneak around wanting to kiss the living daylights out of you any more and I can hold you all night and not have to leave you. If they want me, they can come knock on my door and I can tell them to buzz off because I’m pleasuring my mate.”  
       That does bring ease to her heart and she plays with his chest. “Just… no fair making them jealous that you have a mate and they don’t.”  
       That does make him grimace a little.  Yeah, as much as he is happy, he can’t help but be a little sad for them. “Man, for the first time in a long time, I wish there were more of us that got mutated.”  
         She scoots herself up so she can press her nose to his face. “You are the sweetest guy I have ever met.”  
        “You have not met enough guys,” he smirks.  
        She tugs at the ring she put on his hand and beams, “I have met just the right amount, and found the perfect one.”  
          Raphael’s cheeks flush deep to that and kisses her soundly.  
  
~~0~~  
       The couple sleeps well and deep. For the first time in their memory in fact.  They are awakened by the sound of the Turtle Truck arriving and then Mikey skateboarding on in to the basement home.  He pounds on their door, “Wakey wakey, horny toads!”  
       “MIKEY!”  Leo bellows.  “Get back here and pick up those boxes you knocked over.”  
         April groggily leans up. “I think your family arrived.”  
         Raph doesn’t open his eyes, “They’re your family too now.”  
         Another burst of yelling is heard and Raph pulls the blankets over their heads hoping to block out their arrival.    
        But even that doesn’t last forever. Donatello is the one to knock on his door this time though.  “Hey guys, I’m sorry to bug you, but I could really use your help. Raph, I don’t trust Mikey to move my equipment and April, I need you to help me get it all hooked up right again.”  
       Raphael rolls onto his back and April sits up, resting her back to the wall, feet over his waist. The shell on her ring sparkles in the light, just like Raph’s eyes do looking up at her. Neither responds to Donny just yet, though. They need these last few moments for just them.  
   “You like it?” Raph finally asks her as he soothes her shin.  
    She nods.  “He’s so cute and got red just like you. Even his slider marks.”  
    Raph thumbs to the door. “I asked Donny to help me make something special for you.  He suggested the red eyes.”  
     April giggles lightly looking at the way he is playing with his own ring over her legs. “I asked Splinter for help and I’m sure he went to Donny, too.”  
     Raph sits up tugging her closer and over his lap, “Then I guess we owe it to Donny to help him out?”  
     She nods, “Yeah.”  
     “Okay.”  He covers her ears and bellows.  “Just give me a freak’n minute to find my belt, Donny!!”  
      April laughs at the supposedly angry bellow which has a huge grin to it.  Donny babbles something about being embarrassed for interrupting them, which makes her slap her mate in the chest for a moment and scoot off his lap.  In nothing, flat she has clothes on and is tugging her Vans on as she hops out of their den. “Wait for me, Donny!”  
      After securing his belt, Raphael leans on the door frame tying on his red mask watching them both head off to the truck. The stealthy old rat comes up nearly under his elbow. “Did you rest well?”  
     “Um, right up until Mikey skated in.”  
     “Not Donatello?”   
     Raph holds his hand out to show Splinter how the ring lays on his hand. “Never. Donny could never interrupt us.” Splinter pats his son’s shoulder right on the tattoo that says ‘family’ and then just lays his hand there.  Raph lays his ringed hand over the top of the rat’s paw. “Thank you, Father.”  
      “Always, Raphael. To be honest, I was very worried that you ever have someone to lean on, when my time comes.”  
      Raphael lowers himself in worry but Splinter gives him a huge smile. “No, no my son, you miss understand.  I am as well as this old rat can be, it’s just that we do not live forever, do we?”  
       Raphael swallows the knot in his throat, and then nods softly.  It’s a fact he has not wanted to deal with. Sure it’s something Mikey and Leo have talked about but it’s something he has viciously shoved aside time and time again. Even to the point of leaving the room to beat the crap out of some thug. But he can not avoid the conversation this time.  Certainly not when Splinter is giving him his love and blessing.  
        “I love the way your eyes sparkle when you look at her. That’s how I knew your heart had found it’s soul mate.”  
       Raph jerks his head away and blushes, “My eyes don’t sparkle. Bah, that’s for girls.”  
      Splinter laughs heartily and pats the young man’s head again. He gives his best Mikey impression and flick of the hand, “Whatever.”  
      “RAPH!!! Help!”  Donatello screams in fear and Mikey’s squawking is heard. Raph dashes away and makes it to the van to catch equipment just as it tumbles out of the back.  
     “Oh thank goodness!” Donny gasps as Raph catches a crate of electronics before it can strike the ground. Then he snaps at Mikey.  “THAT was not the crate of your video games!”  
     With a beaming grin, Mikey holds up the one that had been under Donny’s precious crate. “Nope, this one is though!” And saunters off to start hooking it up to the TV in the main room.  
      “Next time, I think we should drop him on his head,” Donny huffs.  
       Raph hefts the crate up and shakes his head, “Donny, I think that’s the problem, he already has been. One too many times.”  
       It’s good to see their romantic relationship has not effected the household at all.  Still the same old bickering and jabbing. Just like a family April’s mother had always wanted. As she hefts up her own box, she catches a look between Donny and Raph. Donny really is happy for his brother. If anything, he looks elated for his brother.  
       Donny grabs his own crate and they walk down to his den together. “So what do you think of the Solartubes?”  
       Raph is relieved that Donny’s question is not too personal, but is asking about how their night went. He gives April a delicious smile then flicks his attention back to his brother. “Beautiful, thank you Donny. It’s a great idea to have the natural light. Makes the place feel less like we are hiding and more like a home.”    
     It’s a lot of sentimental words for the rough guy, but he knows Donny’s had a crush on April for such a long time. It was hard for him to let April know his feelings without hurting Donny, but when Donny gave him the nudge to stop being a fool and hurting April, something changed for them. They became even tighter in their own way that no one else can understand.  
      “I’m looking forward to finding out how we can use it for our natural UV needs too. AND, we might even be able to use it to solar power some of our back up equipment!”  
       Raph’s heart lifts seeing Donny get all nerdy about a little thing that had originally been installed for their human friend living underground with them, but becoming so much more useful.  
         At Donny’s den, they carefully set the crates down, and April reminds both of them, “Don’t forget, we do have the nature preserve out back. I was giving permission to access the place anytime I like as long as I do not harm the animals.  So there is going to be this huge pond, almost a lake for us to swim in, and several basking areas.”  She tightens up her pony tail and smirks, “I know I sure hope to do a little sunning myself after these cold snowy winters.”  She fans her hand out so her little turtle can catch the light from Donny’s own Solartube.  “I think he might like it too, won’t you little guy?”  
         Donny shoots Raph a smirk, “Yup, Raph, she’s defs your mate.  Little coo-coo upstairs.  You two were made for each other.”  
        Raph tries to give a menacing scowl to his brother for the jab, but it so doesn’t work. Because just then April is teasing by calling the turtle on her ring ‘little Donny’. That has Donatello scowling at April, and Raph covering his face in shame.  Their combined expression is too much for April and she erupts into a fit of giggles.  
          “Hey, we going to stand around all night or get the truck unloaded?”  
          Leave it to Leo to get things back on task. Both Donny and Raph pinch April’s sleeves dragging her back to the truck.  Yeah, just because they are now a mated pair, nothing is going to change around here.  
  
For now.


	3. hCG

      
Touch of the Trachemys 3  
{hCG}  
  
          The months pass, and their routine falls into place.  Between Casey, Vern, and April, they run the storage unit and assist the turtles with their protection of the city. It gives everyone a chance to crime fight, earn some wages, and get some time off. Vern even finds time to help out over at the wildlife refuge and meets one of the handlers who just takes his heart away. Soon, he has popped his own proposal and the newly married couple are living on the refuge site full time.  
  
        Casey on the other hand, has a heated run in with the storage unit owner’s daughter. At first they are vicious enemies in why he will not allow her into April’s private home without permission. It comes to a physical battle when she tries to break in through the access door at the mouth of the spiral stair case.   
       Their battle is short lived though when a team of Foot Soldiers tries to break into a storage unit several floors above. They work together to fend them off. Leo eventually comes up to help and that is Ying’s first introduction to the turtles. She’s not horrified by him, and nor is she awed like he is some kind of space alien.  If anything, she waggles a finger at Casey and then punches him square in the nose.  
       “You could have just told me you were housing crime fighters in the basement, you dope!”  
       Leo looks down at bleeding Casey and then to Ying. He sticks his hand out, “Hi there. I’m Leo, and this is my dope of a friend Casey. Hope you don’t mind me taking out some of the trash? They were stinking up the place.”  
       Ying shakes his hand and then thumbs to Casey, “Think we can recycle this one?  I think he’s still got something useful left.”  
        “Shoot me, someone please just shoot me,” the poor human male moans from the ground holding his nose.  
        “Don’t tempt me,” Ying smirks.  
        Leo shakes his head, and then helps his friend up. “Come on, Casey’s not all bad.”  
        Ying gives Casey only the slightest of looks that Leo can’t see. “Umm, we’ll see.” Casey catches her checking him out which makes him stumble and actually blush. Score another point for her.  
         Ying and Casey take a bit longer to admit their relationship is more than a backhanded friendship. Soon enough though, Ying and Casey are an item.  
  
          Mikey is always off with one group or another making friends here, there, and everywhere. With it being New York, there’s hardly anyone who takes a second notice to his bulky form stuffed under one or another of his disguises. New York is the city of expression from, theatre, music, street performers, and a whole wealth of creative artistry that his fun personality is what really makes him welcomed.  
        He might be fun, but he’s not stupid. He might not think everything through, but he knows good and well how to cover his tracks and keep his home safe. It’s not just his home, but his brothers’ and April’s. That he will not put at risk for anything.  
       A few times people have tried to follow him home, but he has eluded them by way of empty warehouses, tunnels galore, and roof top jaunts. He’s even spent a whole day under a water tower until his followers finally got tired and went away. The family understood and respected him staying out (with a call to them first so they wouldn’t worry) as to keep them all safe.  
     It’s times like these that makes Raph and Leo very proud of Mikey and makes them ponder if his daftness is all an act after all?  
  
 ~~0~~  
        More time passes.  
        One day while the others are all sound asleep, April slips out of Raph’s arms and tiptoes her way to Donny’s den.  Sure enough, he is wide awake and messing around with some piece of his equipment.  He lifts his head when her shadow crosses his work station.  She motions for him to be quiet and shuts the sliding barn-like door behind herself.  
        “Are you alright?” he carefully asks as she comes closer.   
        April nods silently yet instead of talking to him explores around his den.  It’s a good ten minutes of her looking at this or that but never saying anything before he has to ask again. “April, what is it?”    
     He knows his friend well enough to know when something is bothering her deeply. This is not a story that has her stumped, that she would willingly bounce off his head for ideas. No this this is something deep like a matter of the heart.   
       She can not look at him as she brings up this conversation rather personal conversation. “Um, Donny, are you still looking into your biology or have you given up on that?”  
       Her question confuses him.  Why would something like this bother her so deep in the heart? “I get real intense on it for awhile, get frustrated, set it aside, and then go back to it. Why do you ask?”  
      Now comes the really delicate part of her question. Sure she can be scientific, but it is hard to admit something like this to the guy who once had a romantic crush on her. Sure he gave them his blessing to date, but she is sharing more than a room with his brother now.  
       “Tell me what parts of your biology you have tested?”  She fiddles with an old Speak and Spell still not looking at him directly.  
       “Well, the basics: blood, saliva, urine and even stool. Skin cells, tears, and sweat. I can see there are some human aspects in there but also reptilian. Some of them are more dominate one way or the other.”  He starts to stand, but she holds a hand up so he sits back down. That bothers him because she wasn’t even looking at him when she raised her hand.  
       “Um.. Have you ever… ummm, tested, well umm…”  Sure she should be able to just spill it out, but she just can’t.  
      “April… are you alright? Has something happened between you and Raphael that I should be concerned about?”  
       She takes a deep breath and then just blurts out her real question. “Have you ever tested your semen!” And then covers her face. It embarrasses her to even consider HOW Donny would get a sample to test.  
       He slaps a hand to the desk, which does make her finally turn around. His other hand is slapped to his head as he laughs. “Well, duh! Why didn’t I think of that!  Of course, it should be so elementary!  After all, THAT has some of the most important DNA in it of all places!” He looks up to April, “Thank you!  You are a genius! I‘ll get on it right away!”  
         And then he sees her face is shocked and deep red. He blinks a few times and then his eyes go stark wide as to the implications of his response.  Swiftly he waves his hands away,  “No-no, not like RIGHT right now, but um well…crap.”  
       To see his embarrassment relieves her a whole lot. It’s wonderful that his first thought was all scientific for that takers a bunch of the tension out of the moment.  
     Finally his head whips back around.  There is still more to her question. Why would she consider semen in the first place? “Hey… April, what’s really going on?”   
       Tears trickle down her cheeks.  It’s time for her to come full clean.  
       Donny sees this is not just an embarrassing question for her, but a scared one. He rises and opens his arms to embrace her, but she shakes her head and tries to run for the door. It’s his words that stop her, physically blocking her retreat.  
       “April, if he’s sick, let me help him. Don’t let him be too stubborn. That’s one of the reasons we are all so glad he has you.”  
       She turns back around.  There is pain aand something else all over her face.    
       “Please don’t say you are going to leave him,” Donny‘s shoulders sink. “What has he done?”  
       “NO!” April shakes her head viciously, “NO it’s nothing like that, Donatello!”  
       “Then what is it?” He plants his feet and crosses his arms.  
       “I… I don’t want to hurt you, Donny, but I didn’t know who else to turn to.”  
        “Well you’re hurting me now by holding something back. If my brother is in trouble or you’re in trouble and won’t tell us and thus hurting him, you are hurting me.“ Donny takes a deep breath. “Just spill it, April!”  
         April scoots past him and takes one of his stools. Donatello resumes his post but turns so he is facing her this time, arms still crossed as a sentry.   
         “I’m not sure how familiar you are with female human biology.”  
         He gives a soft shrug, “I know some, but certainly not everything.”  
         Aprils stalls again until he gives her a disgruntle huff leaving her no choice but to spill. “I’m late.  About two months late.”  
         Donatello churns that through his head trying to decipher the meaning. Finally he gives up and does an internet search on what she means. His eyes go wide when he catches on. “Ohhhh, okay I see.”  Then he looks back up to her and can see her covered in fear. Not just afraid of possibly being pregnant, or of hurting Raph, but of hurting him.  
          It softens his domineer towards her, “Hey, hey, come here April.  Talk to me.”  
          “Donny, it’s not fair of me to talk to you about this because… you deserve a girlfriend and possible mate, too.  I don’t want to tell this to you if there’s no one…”  
          Leave it to the smartest one to find a way to ease her worries.  He takes her hand that carries the turtle ring he made for his brother to give his mate. He gives the hand a tug and she is wrapped up in his warm arms. He smiles against her temple.  “Oh, and who says I don’t have a girl friend?”  
        April pulls back enough to search his face to see if he’s teasing her, but he is beaming brightly. He’s telling truth about finding someone special.  
     So he feels the need to explain. “There’s this thing called the internet, my dear. I don’t have to show my face to find my soul mate. I found someone as smart, intellectual, funny, and sweet as I need. She has got all the qualities that I really need and someone who can relate to me. She knows my name is Donatello and I’m a native New Yorker.  Her name is Tracy from California working for a school district helping special needs kids.”  
    “Does she know what you look like?”  
    “Sort of.  She knows I’m bald, have blue eyes, two toes on each foot and three fingers on each hand. We’ve had a few discussions about modifying things for some of her kids.”  
     “What has she told you about herself?”  
    He sets her back to her own stool, but holds both of her hands in his. “I know she could be lying, just as she can be thinking I am. But she told me she has brown eyes, and extra finger on her right hand -which makes for some good jokes between us- and in her terms, ’a rat’s nest that pretends to be hair.’ April, we are okay.”  
      “Are you really okay with there not being physical attention to your relationship?”  
      Donny chuckles warmly and his cheeks darken, “Welllll, we my not have pictures or actual touch, but you would be surprised what the power of words and a tone of voice can do to someone.”  That leaves him pulling his hands from her and scratching under the tie of his mask as he looks to his feet.  
        He’s so cute, and April can see he is more than smitten by this woman. “Tell me more?”  
          That brings out his beaming smile again. On and on Donny tells her more about Tracy and the things they have worked on together and talked about. Donny’s eyes just light up so bright when he talks about her that April knows he’s truly in love with a wonderful woman.  
       It’s not until he starts talking about how Tracy can’t have children that it brings his thoughts back to why April came to him tonight in the first place.  
  
       “I am sooo sorry, April. You came to me about something and now here I am blabbering on about myself.  Please, tell me your concerns.”  
        Even she had forgotten why she had come to see him until he brings this back up.  Seeing how he is deeply in love with someone else, she feels more comfortable in confiding in her brother-in-law.  
      “Can I really be pregnant? Is it really possible for Raph and I?”  Her hand flies up to cover her mouth in horror. She takes another breath before going on in utter embarrassment.  “Donny, we never talked about it, and I don’t mean to be cruel, but… I figured you guys to be sterile.  I just never thought there would be, you know …active swimmers.”  
      Donatello’s eyes go wide, too.  As she apologizes and hides her face for saying something so horrific, he absent mindedly pats for her hand.  
      “Shh, shh, it’s okay April. Honestly, I don’t think ANY of us considered being able to propagate.  Well, I don’t know about Leo, but Mikey, Raph and I never talked about it. Any time a conversation came up that was even remotely about sexually activity, the conversation swiftly changed. Well for Raph, it’s because he WAS active and certainly wasn’t going to let any of us know he was.”  
        He pulls her hands down and she looks up to him searching his expression. He is quite sincere and so she grips his hands right back. She needs his strength right now.  
        “What do you need from me?” He asks giving her hope.  
        “I don’t really want to tell my doctor about my husband’s genetics just yet. Is there anything you can do to find out if I really am or not? Or do I have something else wrong with me that I can go to her about?”  
        He swallows down the fear of her having something seriously wrong like cancer. None of the Hamato family would be able to handle watching her die of such a thing.  He gives her a smile, but it’s a weak one. “Well, I’m no doctor, but let’s see if there’s any hCG in your system and how much and go from there, okay?”  
        She gives a nod and rolls up her sleeve. For a guy with three large fingers, Donatello is very gentle and very precise in his delicate operations. She barely feels him draw her blood into the vial.  
  
  
    With all the genetic experiments he’s done here, it doesn’t take him long to get the results. Now for delivering the news of the results to a nervous patient. He’s so glad he’s not a practicing physician doing this on a daily basis!  
    Donatello lifts his head from the print out before him. “Well April, your hCG levels are that of an average woman at nine weeks. I think it’s pretty safe to say: you’re pregnant.”  
     It’s April’s turn to give him a weak smile.  “I don’t know if that is good news or bad news though.”  
     Donny reaches over and gives her hand a soft squeeze once again. “Why don’t you go talk to Raph? It’s something you two need to do together. Isn’t that what having a mate is all about? You don’t walk alone any more in your private fears?”  
      “I don’t want to do it here in case he screams or in case he needs to be alone.”  
      Donny shakes his head, “He doesn’t get to be alone anymore and he doesn’t get to leave you alone with powerful and important decisions.”  
       Once more tears are streaming down her face and reaches out to him for a hug. He welcomes her into his arms and keeps her secure in his grasp.   
      “I always wanted a brother, and now I get three.”  A few more tears drip down on to his shoulder.  
      “Well, we had wondered what this place would be like with a sister.  Guess that question has been answered. You going to be alright?”  
      She doesn’t move from the safety of his arms, but does nod against his warm shoulder. “Mostly relieved. I thought I was coming down with something serious because of how tired I’ve been. Well, and also how sensitive my emotions feel.  But knowing this, it makes me feel more sane. Thanks for being her for me, Donny.”  
      “Always,” he gives her head a pat.  “Now, you should head off back to bed before you worry Raph.  I know he doesn’t sleep well if you aren’t next to him.”  
      That does lift her head. “Really?”  
       He gives a soft nod. “Yeah, but he will deny it in front of Leo and Mikey. He wouldn’t tell you that either because he knows you need to work and want him to sleep when he can.”  
       “I really love that big guy.  He’s so sweet.”  
       “Heh, yeah he is. He just has to be a tough nut for all of us though.” He stands up and guides her to his door. “Just, do me a favor, and let me know what his reaction is to the news.”  
      April nods and then gives him a sisterly-kiss to his cheek. “I promise.  Thanks, Donny.  I hope you and Tracy have a good life.”  
      “Me, too.” He gives her a wink. “I think she and I are going to be just fine, just as I think you and Raph are going to be just fine. Now go get some rest.  I’ll see what I can do about getting that ultra sound machine back up and running. It could come in handy for many things in the future. No time like the present to get it going!”  
       He gives her a kiss to her forehead before shooshing her out his door.  It warms his heart to lean against the door and watch her slip back into the room she shares with her mate.  
       “You lucky Lug, Raph.”  
        It’s bitter sweet. Both of the brothers are in love (with separate women). It’s just that one can hold his mate at night, and the other can not.


	4. Spilling the Truth

  
Touch of the Trachemys 4  
  
  
     Softly April comes their own barn door. Their’s of course being red with yellow accents, where Donny’s is purple, Mikey’s orange, and Leo‘s blue.  Splinter’s has a beautiful design of all five colors with a symbol for ‘father‘.  With one hand she traces the little mark that makes up hers and Raph’s names combined, the other hand lays over her belly. These are going to be some huge decisions to make in the near future. Donny was right though, she is not going to be making them alone.   
      Quietly as she can, she makes her way back inside her den and back under the blanket with Raph. He rolls over and nuzzles into her.  “You okay?”  
      “Yeah,” she smiles patting his cheek. Just like Donny said, he can’t sleep unless she is here. “Just needed to talk to Donny for a moment.”  
     “Donny?” it’s a groggy question not fully awake, but wanting to be.  
      “Techno-stuff, nothing to worry about, sleepy head.”  
     “Hum-kay,” he is soon back to sleep with an arm draped over her waist, keeping her snuggly against himself.    
     Once she is sure he is asleep, she moves his large hand over to her belly. It just happens to be the same hand bearing their ring. As much as she should be tired, she has too many things running through her mind and seeing his hand right there makes her smile rather than fret.  The only thing she worries about right now is how in the world is she going to break the news to him? Be romantic? Be spontaneous? Something silly? Something serious?  
      This one thing for sure is it’s not going to be here at the home.  Someplace away from the others where they won’t be interrupted.  
  
~~0~~  
       Between the Foot Soldiers, reporting some news, a bunch of new storage unit clients, and needing sleep, it’s nearly a week before they can have any decent amount of time alone together.  
        She grabs his hand, leaving both their phones on the dinning table with a simple note, “Date time”, and rushes him out the door.  Raph shakes his head, but isn’t going to argue with April taking him away so it can be just the two of them for a little bit.  
        She keys in the code to the back gate of the Refuge, and shoves him through.   
        “Yesh, in a hurry or something?” He sniggers taking up the picnic basket so she can close the gate behind them.  
        “Damn, right!  Last thing I need right now is for your brothers to haul you away for some stupid video game or challenge you to a spar.  You’re mine and I’m going to take full advantage of it!”  
        “Well in that case!” He scoops her up into his other arm with a rather enticing look, “I say we make a break for it!”  
         April clutches tightly to his neck in a piggy back style as he rushes off towards the grove of trees.  Inside that nice grove is the perfect place for a picnic and maybe a little more. Leo told them about it, because he likes to meditate there when the video games are just too loud for him.  
         Sure enough, there is the clearing inside the grove just like Leo described.  A mixture of old oaks, pine, and of course apple trees make for a beautiful haven.  Raph sets her down and looks around. “Wow, now I know why Leo likes this place.  It’s pretty nice in here.”  
        April smiles.  She had told Leo she wanted to kidnap Raph for a little bit, so she knows they won’t be interrupted by him, at least. She’s going to need it and he won’t worry about them.  
      Raph helps her spread out the blanket and then plops himself down on a corner. April’s stomach growls making him chuckle. She blushes, but just continues pulling out the goodies. He shoves a grape into her mouth then leans in for a kiss only to steal the grape back.  
       Now it’s April left giggling and him grinning like a seductive thief.    
  
       Lunch is delightful and relaxing out here on a beautiful day.  It’s not often they get out alone during the day. Conversation is light about amusing antidotes of the week, but nothing serious needs to be spilled at this time. So she lays back and he takes his favorite position at her side.  He likes to lay on his side, cheek propped up on a fist.  This way he can look down on her and trace his fingers over her body.    
       Sometimes it’s to marvel at her auburn hair that turns a brighter red in the sunlight.  Sometimes is a new scratch or mark that needs to worried over.  And then there’s the time he takes to make it slow in tugging a zipper down (or undoing buttons) so that he can slowly reveal her naked form to himself little by little and they can make perfect love.  
       Even he has laid his red mask, gloves, sais and their holsters aside. He is left in his belt alone. His hopes are that it will be set aside by her hands soon enough as well.   
       April is a bit tense, but it’s not the sexual tension he is used to as he undresses her. So he stops at her waist only letting his bare hand graze over her naked belly and up her side, then slowly back down. He does love the feel of those womanly curves to her amazingly soft body.  
   “Something is on your mind. I can hear the mechanics working in there.”   
    She stops his hand when it reaches her belly and holds it there. “I lied to you, well sort of, the other night. I didn’t go to see Donny about a techno-thing.”    
     He stiffens, but waits for her to continue. He trusts her that much, and he knows about Donny’s girlfriend, so he knows she’s not having an affair with his brother.  
     April holds his hand there and looks up into his concerned face. “Raph, Donny did a test on me at my request.  I’m pregnant.  Well, you and I are.”     
      He just blinks and his breath catches.  
       “Raphael?”  
      Now it’s his turn to be at a complete loss for words. “Umm, duh, what did you just say?”  
  
       If this was a cartoon his jaw would dislocate and drop to the blanket while his eyeballs spin in a dizzying fashion. But it’s not. This is no childlike Raph, this is very much a mature adult who takes his responsibilities seriously.  
       He swallows slowly trying to keep his lunch down.  “A-April, if this is some joke Mikey put you up to, I’m going to throw up on you and beat the crap out of him.”  
       Some women might be offended by a response like that, but not April.  After all, she thought for sure she had cancer or some other female problem. She never expected to have a small life form growing inside of her, created in a moment of love with Raph. April slowly rolls her head to say it’s not a joke and then she takes his finger and has him poke her belly a little.  
      “Raph, no matter how much I try to work out, I would never have abs like you guys. My belly is getting taught from further below. This is no joke.”  
     He was all ready to pop off some kind of smart reply to her continuing the joke, but her voice sounds so weak at the last statement. “No joke?” He softly asks and studies her face carefully.  
      Tears are glistening on the verge of spilling out.  
      “Oh babe, shush, it’s okay.” The big guy rolls to a sitting position, resting his back against a large pine. As he rises, he tugs April into his lap. There he caresses her face with both hands and tries to give her his most confident smile. “It’ll be alright.”  
     That eases her worries so much. He’s just as scared and confused as she was when she first found out. She can’t help but tearfully smile and pat over his heart. “You’re a terrible liar, Raph.”  
      He leans in though pressing his forehead to hers, “But it HAS to be alright, April. I need it to be.”  
      Bigger tears roll down her face seeing him trying to be strong but oh so scared himself. “I know, Raph, I know.”  
      He curls her snuggly into his lap and brings his hand closer to her belly. “Can, I…touch?”  
      “Any time you want,” she presses his hand over their little one. “Raph, you’re going to be a Dad.”  
      The stupidest lopsided grin comes out.  “Oh I’m sure Master Splinter is laughing at me now.”  
       April is quiet for a few moments caressing his hand over her belly. “Donny promised to keep this quiet until we are ready. I haven’t seen my doctor yet because, I wanted to talk to you. What do you want me to tell her?  I’m sure she’s going to have questions about the father.”  
      “I trust you to tell them whatever you need to. Just can you leave it to me to tell my brothers?  Leo’s going to be so pissed and Mikey… oh Mikey is going to be so confused.  I am not looking forward to explaining things to him.”  
       April nods squeezing his hand, “But if you can, I would like to be by your side when you tell them. I don‘t want you to have to do this alone.”  
       He takes a deep breath. “Let me think about it. This is a lot to take in, and for right now, I want it to just be us who knows. I don’t want any advice from anyone cluttering our thoughts.  I just…. I need this to be just ours for now.”  
         “I love you, Raphael. I like that idea very much.” She leans into his protection and he snuggles her close. “I’m doing alright, so don’t worry.”  
       “April, I’ll always worry.” It’s said not just as a statement of fact, but also with a tinge of humor. As if he had any other options BUT to worry. She gets his point a laughs right back.  
  
        The rest of their afternoon is warm and even more treasured. A long walk hand in hand around the manmade lake at dusk is the perfect ending to their picnic. He taps the code in and holds it open for her to pass through first. Such a gentleman, April is so glad she chose him to be her mate.  
     Just like this huge city with the mini refuge-oasis in the heart of an old industrial area, April has found the most unlikely of all people to share the rest of her life with. And also like this refuge that is making a new life out of old, April and Raph are making a new life.  It’s a monumental task before all of them.  
     Raph closes the gate, then hesitates moving any closer to the warehouse. For once he comes home he will have to stuff this secret deep down inside. April is right that he can’t hide much from his family, but he is also a very strong one. Holds his ground and does his best not to worry them. He silently sighs just staring at the door to his home.  
    April gives his hand a squeeze and looks up to him silently. She’s been hiding this secret for days and yet he never noticed.  
    “How did you keep this secret?”  
     Her cheeks warm up. “It was incredibly difficult, Raph. I wanted so badly to tell you but, I had to do it at the right time. With that, I shifted my focus elsewhere. Hard as it was, I did. But I’m really glad I can share it with you now. I don’t have to hide it alone.”  
    “Donny? You didn’t talk to Donny?”  
    April shakes her head. “Raph, what I needed to talk about was not for a brother’s ears, but for my mate’s.”  
     Raph tugs her close and wraps his arm around her. Just for a few more minutes in the setting sun, he needs her.  
        
        Leo pulls up a few moments later and brings the van into the underground garage area. Raph and April know it’s time for the family meal, and therefore make their way back inside.  
         Raph doesn’t have to worry about spilling the secret because Donny and Mikey  dominate the table conversation with the latest experiment that went sideways. Leo joins in in reminding them how careless and reckless they are being. This gives Raph the perfect fuel to add a few zingers and jabs in there.  Splinter and April just sit back and enjoy the show.  Some things just never change.  
  
           With dinner over and cleaned up, Mikey challenges Raph to a game.  April slyly gives a tug to the red mask’s tail. Raph blinks and tries to snark Mikey out of the thought of challenging him. Mikey isn’t giving in though, so April goes a little more adventurous.  
       She lays a hand to Raph’s thick thigh, sliding her hand inside and further up. Raph’s head rolls back and growls, “Not tonight, Michelangelo.”  
        Mikey sputters once more, but when the Raph’s hand comes slapping down over April’s now curled nicely in a sensitive area of his thigh, Mikey’s eyes go stark wide. “But hey, you guys had the whole day together to do that kind of stuff.”  
       Raph stands up wrapping his arm around her waist to lay his hand to her hip rather low. “Yes, and before it’s too late, I would like to spend more time with my mate this evening. Now excuse us.”  
      Mikey badgers them all the way to their red and yellow door. Even when the door is closed in his face with twittering fingers of a wave goodnight from both, he continues his juvenile taunts.  
     Only when the lock is snicked closed does his know the argument is finished. “Oh well, he has no idea what he’s missing.  HEY LEO WHERE’S THAT ICE CREAM?!!”  
  
      The ice cream taunt doesn’t even phase April or Raph though.  There is a much more pleasant taste sliding across their tongues and feeding their needs. This time Raph’s hands don’t stop at her naked belly. Oh no they don’t. While it’s still possible, he encourages her to splay herself face down on their bed. That devilish tongue and tantalizing lips play down her spine and over her pert rump. Even down the back of her ticklish knees to nip at her ankle.  
      “Raph!” she squeals and kicks, but his hand is too quick catching it softly in his grip. He slides it to the side and this time makes his way back up by way of the inside of her legs.  The softer parts of skin that are not used to being brushed against things other than a lover’s legs.   
      He thoroughly enjoys those moans and delicious sounds she makes. In reply he answers her with his own churr. A sound he only shares with his mate.  
      As strong and callused as those broad hands are, they are incredibly gentle.  
  
       April has watched him in his graceful morning warm ups. It is one of the rare times she has seen him completely serine. The only other time, is resting her in her arms. Sure they’ve have rougher love making, but tonight it’s like his meditation warm ups and love making have come together. His body worshiping them being together.   
         Now she knows how it happened that they created a new life. This miracle right here. Two souls meeting and finding serenity with each other.  
         She rolls and loops her arms around his neck. As one, she doesn’t need to tug or tell him, he knows she needs to be kissed and lowers his lips so she can rise up to join him.  Their mouths, legs, and hearts beat and move as one. In a matter of moments, he is slipping inside her body like she slipped inside his heart.  
         Together they move as one blocking out the whole world. The fight outside over the last half of Rocky Road is never heard by the occupants inside this den. All that is heard is their hearts beating as one and the feeling of tingling as one.  
          Climaxing is dreaded and they hold it off as long as they can, but the body can only hold off so long before it can’t take it a moment longer.   
         Raph lowers her spend and sweating form to the bed under him. April keeps her hand cupped behind his neck guiding him down to rest in the crook of her neck. The last movement that is made, is to cover their entwined forms with a sheet and fall asleep.   


	5. The Loss

  
Touch of the Trachemys  5  
{the loss}  
  
    The days turn into weeks.  Still neither has spilled the secret of their pregnancy. Donny catches April one day as they walk through the Refuge at dawn.  
     “April, you need to say something soon.  Mikey has noticed you are gaining weight. Even Splinter is asking if I know anything.  Have you even seen a doctor?”  
     April nods lightly chucking a rock off into the distance. “I promised Raph I would leave it to him to tell his family. I can’t pressure him. You know how he is if you push his back to the wall.”  
     “Yeah, I know all too well. But he needs to see this logically. April, you’re starting to show. What are you going to say if Mikey confronts you without Raph around?”  
       “I don’t know, Donny.”  She steps away from him, but he doesn’t let her get too far ahead.   
       “I’m a terrible liar and if they pressure me, I’ll spill. Please don’t make me be the one to ruin this.”  
        She nods sharply.  “Just- oh- just give me a few more days to talk to Raph. ‘Kay?”  
        Donatello nods. Then he sees a strange expression go across her face. “April? Is everything alright?”  
       “Yeah, just a stitch in my side,” She rests her back to a tree.  “I’ll be okay in a moment. Don’t worry. You should head back. I know Leo was wanting that surveillance update.”  
      Donny waits a moment until he is sure April is fine.  She gives him a laugh and a smile shoving into his shoulder. “Go on. Get out of here before Leo is on my butt, too about distracting his brothers from their duties.”  
       He gives her a warm smile then heads back.  April leans back against the tree, waiting a few more moments before she too heads back to take over her shift at the storage unit office.  
        By the time she gets back home, she’s tired and her back is aching.  A nice hot shower sounds so good.  She strips down and sees a spot of red in her underwear. She’s read of some women spotting during pregnancy, so she’ doesn’t think too much about it, but she will need to hide it so it doesn’t scare Raph. So she wads up her clothing and tosses them into the laundry basket.  
        She’s not in the shower long when a set of large hands are helping her wash her back. “Miss me?”  
        “Always,” she turns in his arms and lets him kiss her.  
        The shower is long with a little love making added in. April feels that stitch in her side again as their bodies join, but doesn’t want to concern him. After all, he feels SOOO damn good right now. She would be an idiot to miss this!  
           
          After they wash and dry, he gets dressed and heads out to help with dinner plans. April waits until he is gone and then goes back to the bathroom. A little bit more red is in the bowl when she gets up, but still she doesn’t think it’s that serious.  When she takes a step though, it’s more than a stitch or even a twinge in her side.  This time it is a stabbing pain. That does have her a bit worried, so instead of heading out to dinner, she heads to bed to rest. She is starting to panic and knows if she goes out there for dinner she won’t be able hide her fears from Raph or any of the rest of them. Hopefully a bit of bed rest and it will be over in the morning. She prays.  
  
      Raph comes to tell her that dinner is ready, but she feigns being asleep. So he presses a kiss to her temple and covers her up.  “Get some rest, Love.” Quietly he turns out the light and closes the door.  
       For April though, the tears trickle down her cheeks and into her pillow. Something isn’t right, but she’s not sure if she’s worried or relieved.  
    
       It’s a restless night for her. Luckily though, Raph has patrol with Donny so she doesn’t have to worry about snuggling up to him and him smelling her spotting. It would freak him out and that’s not something she can manage right now. Certainly if it’s nothing….or is it something?  
       Since she doesn’t actually sleep much during the night and makes sure she is out of the home before they come back from patrol.  First she asks Casey to cover her a little bit longer at the Storage Unit so she can run an errand. With Ying hanging out there, he’s more than welcome to cover for her and she heads off.  
  
         April knows she needs to know for sure if this is normal or bad, so she heads to her doctor’s office. The nurse is really kind when she explains her symptoms and gets her set up right away.  Within a few minutes her doctor comes in.  
       “Hello, April. Kelly said you were experiencing some pain and spotting?”  
       April can’t speak, so she just nods.  
       “Well let’s check a few things, shall we?”  She gets out the Doppler and begins running it over April’s belly. The doctor’s brow furrows though when no heartbeat is heard.  “Don’t worry, some times these guys are rascals. Let’s try an ultra sound instead.”  
         The doctor squirts the warm gel onto her belly this time and begins running the imager over and over her belly. She takes her time, but then has to turn to April who already knew. She reaches over and gives April’s hand a squeeze.  
         “I’m sorry, Honey.  Sometimes these things happen.”  
        April nods, and the hot tears slip out some more.  Her doctor hands her a couple of tissues and puts the equipment aside then sits down at her side holding her hand.  
        When she can tell April is calm enough to hear her, she tells her about what to expect and what to watch out for that are signs of complications.  Once again April just nods.  
        “Is there anyone you want me to call?  Your husband?”  
       April shakes her head lightly. “He hasn’t even told his brothers yet, so I don’t know how he wants to handle this. I’ll tell him when I get home.”  
       “You need to get some sleep. The next few days are going to be painful and rough on your emotions. His too. You two really need each other right now, okay?”  
       Once more, all April can do is nod. It’s too much to handle right now.  
  
         Some how she gets herself dressed, takes the instructions the doctor gave her, and makes her way home. Sure enough, the cramping hits harder, but she just wants to go home and hide.    
     How is she going to tell Raph? What if he is relieved? What if she is?  
  
     April is completely numb as she stumbles home.  Donny is the only one about when she arrives.   
      “Hey April. Casey was just-- what’s wrong?! You looks so pale.” In three strides he is reaching for her, but April backs away from him just shaking her head. “April?”  
      “It’s over,” she whispers and dashes for her den closing and latching the door behind herself.  
       Donny’s shoulder’s slump. He’s a bit confused as to what is over. Her relationship with Raph? One of her jobs? The baby?  Whatever it is, Raph should be here. He sends a simple text to him.  
       {Return home ASAP}  
      Now all he can do is wait.  
  
~0~  
     April latches the door and leans against it for a moment. But a moment isn’t long enough as her body cringes again nearly folding her in half.  She makes her way to the shower where the running water will hide her tears, ease her muscles, and wash away some of the blood.  
      But there is only so much hot water in the tank. When the shower turns cold, she has to get out and face the truth. Carefully she gets dressed and heads for her bed.  Sitting on the foot of it is her mate.  
     “April? Donny told me something is wrong and I should come home. What is it?”  
     There is his dear sweet concern and a tinge of his anger that she didn’t tell him but did tell his brother something was wrong. She can’t face him  
      April crawls into bed and under the covers so that only her nose is sticking out.  “The baby‘s dead.”  
       A fist slams to the bed and then his weight is lifted. He slams the door to their den and leaves the home, much to Donny’s hollering retorts that he needs to be with his mate.  
       That’s all she needs is for him to storm off in anger with no idea who he is mad at. She reaches out for his pillow to smell the scent of him so close to her. She needs him right now, but apparently, he doesn’t need her.  
         As she pulls the pillow under her blanket hood, something soft is under it.  April opens her eyes and looks. A small green sea turtle with a pink bow sewn to the top of the head. Raph had this little plushy under his pillow. It wasn’t there last night when they went to bed, so he must have gotten it while she was at the doctor’s office finding out their little one was gone.  
         It breaks her heart wide open and she sobs loudly trying to bury it into his pillow. He wanted this baby and now both it and he are gone.  
  
  ~0~  
         While April is sobbing herself to sleep in their bed, Raph heads out to the Refuge.  The lake is large enough for him to dive down deep enough to drown. That isn’t his goal though. Right now he needs a workout that blocks out sounds and communication with his family. Right now, he needs to push his body and lungs to their fullest limits.  
       ‘Why?’ his body pants as he pushes it all the way to the bottom of the lake until he thinks his lungs are going to burst. There he bends his knees, shoves off the bottom and rockets to the surface.  
       He gasps for breath before folding over and diving back down to the bottom swimming as fast and as hard as he can. This time, he can stay on the bottom a few moments before having to head back up for another breath.  
       Over and over again, he pushes himself harder and longer. If he could, he would like to just stay down here where it is quiet, dark, and cold. Just like his heart feels right now.  
       April might be the one in physical pain, but his soul is all twisted up. Is it a good thing or a bad thing they lost the baby? Did April do this?  
     NO, how can he even think she would do this on purpose?!  
     But how could she tell Donny first and not him?  Why can’t she just come to him and talk to him?  
      Because he won’t come to her and tell her what he is thinking and why he hasn’t told his family they were even pregnant.  And why hasn’t he?  Does it even matter now?  
  
       Down and up again he pushes himself to the limit until he just can’t any more. He crawls out of the lake to beach himself and bask in the waning sunlight. There he collapses with tear in his eyes.  
  
~0~  
         April remembers falling asleep in her bed, but she doesn’t remember what happened next. How did she end up in a hospital with these IV’s in her arm? The room is dark except for the lights of a few monitors and the city outside the window.  
         Intuition though has her looking to a dark corner of the room. “Raph?” His name sounds so strange and scratchy coming from her throat.  
         The shadowy figure steps forward. It’s not her mate Raph, but his brother Donatello. “I’m sorry, it’s just me.”  
          He reaches out and she takes his hand. “I-is he mad at me? What happened?”  
          Donny lowers himself to the doctor’s stool giving her hand a soft rub with his thumb. “I have no idea what is going on with Raph. I saw him storm out of your room, but I haven’t seen him since. I’ve pinged his phone, but he refuses to answer any to of us.”  
          April nods. It’s not unusual for Raph to keep his feelings to himself, but to her he would at least share them. Now, he won’t even share them with her. Her chest cringes and her belly is so sore.  “Nuh, what happened, Donny?”  
        “When you didn’t show up for your interview appointment and wouldn’t answer your phone, I jimmied the latch on your door. You were soaked in blood and looked so pale. According to your chart, you hemorrhaged. Casey and I got you here in time, but still you lost more blood than just the miscarriage.  They want to keep you a couple days then want you to take it easy at home.”  
          April nods solemnly. It wasn’t Raph that found her, it was Donny.  “Did you tell Raph?”  
         “I did,” he grips her hand tightly. “The last time I talked to him, he was pretty drunk and more belligerent than normal.”  
        “D-does he blame me?” The tears are slipping down her cheeks again. Not for the loss of the baby this time but because she might be losing the love of her life.  
       “I don’t think so. I think if anything, he’s blaming himself but he’s pointing his fingers at everything else so that no one will get close to him. He hasn’t come back to the home. I’m not sure where he is staying.”  
        The large hand soothes the weak softer one. He too is aching for both his brother and his friend. “I saw the little turtle toy you bought.”  
       “I didn’t buy it, I just found it in our bed.”  
        Seeing how there were only three of them who knew, and neither of them bought the turtle, that leaves only Raph. “Oh, I see,” Donny’s heart sinks.  
       “What did you tell the others about the blood?  It’s bad enough I’m the only woman, I don’t want to gross Mikey out or anything.”  
       “I told them you were mugged but too proud to tell any of us. That you tried to hide the wound, but failed. It will help explain why you don’t feel like talking.”  
       “I’m sorry you had to lie.” As much as she is suffering, she knows he is too.  
       He gives a soft shrug, and sighs. “Hey, at least we don’t have to help Mikey through the grieving process. He never knew he was going to be an uncle so he doesn’t have to know what he was missing.”  
         April nods and gives a soft yawn.  
         “I should let you rest. You need all of it you can to do what needs to be done.”  
         “Oh and what is that?” She tease him.  
         “Kick Raphael in his sorry ass of a mate before I get a hold of him. I want to knock him into next week for abandoning you in your time of need!”  
          April crimps down on his hand though. “Hey, you know he has a heart of glass, so give the guy a break.”  
          “No.” Donny thrusts himself out of his chair and out of the room.  
  
~0~  
          The day that April is supposed to return home, Raph locks himself and Donny inside the genius’ room. “I need to talk to you.” Raph’s eyes are blood shot and still holding a bottle in his hand.  
           “No, it’s April you need to talk to.”  
         The larger brother thrusts a finger at the chest of the younger one. “No, you first. I want you, Mr. Science Guy, to cut my balls out so I can give them to April on a silver platter. That way she can have a normal kid with a normal guy.”  
           Donatello snorts reaching for Raph’s bottle of gin, but he yanks it out of his reach. “You talk to April first about that. You two are a mated pair and should be making decisions together. Especially over something like this.”  
             He takes another swing and snarls back. “My balls, my rules. And I am ordering you to cut them out. Look, I’m even anesthetized for you.”  
          “You’re an asshole is what you are.”  
           “I dare you to say that again!” raising a fist to his brother’s snout.  
          “You are a damned cruel asshole, Raphael.  How dare you walk out on your mate when you are both grieving at this time!  Mated pair, one. You are supposed to do this together!”  
          “Don’t you dare tell me how to be a mate!” And he swings for the purple masked head. Donny easily ducks and Raph staggers to make a second swing.  
        “I love you both, Raph, but you are a fool.”  
        “Come back here you pipsqueak! You have no idea what-”  
        That is the last straw for Donatello and he makes his own swing clocking Raph right in the side of the head. Down he goes dropping the bottle of gin in the process.  
          Donny leans over the inebriated one, “Don’t you dare for one moment tell me how I should be feeling. You want those balls removed, you get April to do it, because I’m not going to help you hurt her any more.” And gives one last punch to Raph knocking him out cold.  
          Then he slides to the floor beside his brother. He picks up the unbroken bottle and guzzles down the remaining quarter.  
          “Forgive me, Raph, but you are an idiot.”


	6. Healing

Touch of the Trachemys  6  
{Healing}  
  
      The building next door to the storage unit was purchased at Ying’s suggestion.  This one has been converted for storing vehicles. Boats, trailers, RV’s, and cars. That means that the walls are ventilated, yet secured against vandalism.  It also means there are large heavy duty beams a good distance apart.  Perfect for hanging up hammocks large enough to hold a sulking mutant turtle.  
   This is where Raphael turned when he just couldn’t return to the bed he is supposed to share with April. He has no idea how many people actually know what happened between himself and April, but he sure as hell has no intentions of talking to them about it.  He is there when they call him for missions shows up for meals and training, and even plays a few games with Leo and Mikey.  But as for discussing his marriage problems, no.  
    As for April, as soon as she is able to be upright for a decent number of hours, she is back to doing her duties at the storage unit, a few scheduled interviews for the TV station, and helping Donny with projects.  She too puts on a good face at meals and family activities, but there is no cuddling with Raph, no banter between them, no knowing looks or parting kisses. At night, it’s very lonely and cold sleeping in their bed.  Worse is that she doesn’t have her friend and confidant to help her through this.  
    She seriously doubts Raph has told his brothers what happened between them. So that leaves her doctor and Donny as the only ones who know the truth.  That also means she is left with no one to share her grief with.  Not even her husband.  
        Even though her body has healed, her heart has not. She still feels like she is dying inside and nobody knows it. On top of this, she is dying to know what Raph is feeling and thinking, but he won’t be alone with her long enough to talk.  
  
        One day she finally catches Raph’s eyes. They seem to be pleading with her, but she’s not sure what he is pleading for. Her forgiveness or to forgive her?  Her mouth parts and starts to lean for him, but a shot of pain sears his face and he turns away in shame. Silently he gets up and heads out of the building. Donny catches his arm, but Raph shoves him hard crashing him into a wall and keeps going. It’s not hard enough to hurt the younger turtle physically, his heart though is a whole other matter.  Raph doesn’t return that night or the next day even at their calls.  
  
          April can’t take it any more. She can see that the break down of her marriage is effecting the whole family. Leo is ignoring Raph’s aversion to the home and snapping at Mikey for every little thing now. Donny is holed up in his room nearly as much as Raph is staying away. Splinter’s head doesn’t look like it could hang any lower. All of this is killing April even more.  Mikey is leaning on her more and more and crying. Something has to be done.  
       When Mike falls asleep in her lap on the couch once again, she eases out from under him. Slowly she walks next door to the vehicle storage and up the ramp to the hammock deck. One turtle hand is hanging out of a slightly swinging hammock. On the floor under him is littered hard liquor bottles. Not his beer, and not the Saki. Now he is moving into the vodka and whiskey. And not even the good stuff at that.  
         She comes close enough to take the bottle out of his hand and guzzle down the last of the vodka. He was going to say something to the person stealing his booze, when he sees that it’s her and that she is chugging it back like a sailor. This just makes him blink and even a slight lift to his lip. Leave it to HIS mate to be able to hold her own including liquor.  
        With the bottle empty, she lets it clatter to the floor with the others. Then she whaps his thigh lightly with the back of her hand. “Move over, you big lug.”  
       He scoots as much as he can on his side without flipping out. April sets her rear down, and then curls so that her back is to his chest. She takes his left hand, surprised to see it still has their ring on it, and tucks it up under her chin like a child might with a special toy or blankie. Her knees fold up against her own chest.  
        Raph bends his own knees so that they tuck under hers in a supportive way.  Then he wriggles his right arm so that she can use his bicep as her pillow. She lets off a soft contented sigh. Her fingers play with his ring. He lays motionless waiting to see what is going to happen next.  
        “I never even thought about us having children. And then when it happened, I was happy. But then I was terrified. What if it was a mutant? What if it was so horribly deformed and I was a terrible person because I couldn’t handle taking care of a special needs kid.  I’m not like Donny’s girlfriend. What if you hated me for giving you a child only for you to look at this ‘thing’ rather than someone you could raise and be proud of like Splinter is of you guys?”  
      Raph moves his thigh up and over her hip pinning her to him. He is not going to let her jump up and escape. This is exactly what they needed and have both been avoiding. He’s not going to tell her to hush or that she is wrong, that’s not what this is. He needs to hear all that is bothering her.  
      “Tell me more,” he whispers to the top of her head. It’s confession time, for both of them. The fingers on his right hand brush over her brow and soothe into her hair begging her to keep spilling her heart.  
       “And then just as I was getting positive thoughts about how everything could be alright, and maybe there would be more human DNA that your turtlish-ones… I started bleeding and cramping.  It was like some cruel twist.  Just when I was getting past not wanting this child and really wanting it, someone decided to rip that dream away from me. I was afraid you were going to blame me for trying to terminate your mutant child.”  
       Raph doesn’t need to say anything, but he does squeeze her a little tighter into his protection as she curls in on herself even more. She presses his hand to her lips trying to kiss it in a way to let him know she is so sorry for everything she felt.  
       She chokes on a sniffle, but keeps going. “And then it got so serious I had to go into the hospital. I didn’t care if I died, but I couldn’t go letting you think I had done this on purpose. But I couldn’t see you, and then when I got home, you had this look on your face. Like I disgusted you and you were ashamed of me.  Sorry that you had ever agreed to have me as your mate… I…I…”  
       She can’t say any more and sobs.  
       There’s a soft sound he would make when she had migraines that always soothed her. It comes from deep within him, it’s like his soul is whining and purring for just her. It tries to warm up and dissolve her woes. He doesn’t make this noise consciously, is just seems to come forth. And here is comes again. It takes longer, but soon enough her sobs calm to just sniffles again.  
       “I asked my doctor to tie my tubes so I will never have kids again, but she knows I’m married and since it was right after the miscarriage, she wants me to talk to you first. Not to do anything rash .”  
       Raph sniffs back his own tears and begins his confession with a choke of deeply held back emotions. “I asked Donny to yank out my balls. He refused. He said it was too soon. I tried to give him a black eye, but he ducked in time, and laid me out.”  
        April turns her head just a little so she can look into his eyes. Yep that is the truth and he gives the slightest of shrugs with that wicked smirk of his. “He got lucky, I was a little drunk at the time.” He groans with her further cocked brow. “Okay, extremely drunk.”  
           She giggles lightly and turns more. She tucks her face into his throat, both hands laying against his chest, still holding his left one.  He keeps his leg over her waist pinning her even more snuggly to his body.  
        “I had no idea what to think when you told me you were pregnant. Mostly was how the hell we were going to raise it. It’s not like I can go to parent teacher conferences.  All those moments a kid should have, and I can’t be there. I’d be a shitty father. Sometimes I‘m a shitty brother and horrid mate.”  
      Just has he didn’t tell her her feelings were wrong or stop her from venting, she does not stop him.  This is his moment to come clean, too and desperately she wants to hear it all.  
     “I tried to be happy for you, but damn-it April, I’m scared as hell.  I’m just not ready!  I don’t know if I will ever be ready. Look at how crazy Mikey is!”  
      April smiles kissing his hand in encouraging him to keep going.  
  
      He takes a deep breath letting it out with a shutter. “And just when I was okay and ready to be a parent, just when I was going to tell them….you started loosing it. I was relieved the responsibility was removed from my shoulders.  Oh gosh that sounds absolutely horrible. It sickens me to even feel that, let alone say it. It makes me such a horrible rotten person.”  He chokes back a sob. “How could you ever want me as your mate? How could I ever let you look at me or touch me if you knew I thought something like that, even if only for the briefest of instants. And then…”  
      His whole body shakes and he clutches her tighter. “You were in so much pain. I did that to you.  My stupid seed did that to the woman I love. I helped implant a life into you that was tearing you apart from the inside out and I thought you resented me for it. And I almost lost you… and then, I didn’t.  And I don’t deserve you.  I don’t deserve your forgiveness or love.”  
      It’s his turn to openly sob for what they did lose and what more they also almost lost.    
      It’s no so much that they need to forgive each other, but that they need to forgive themselves. Both of them are well aware of that. There is no need to forgive the other, but there is a NEED to forgive themselves. That must come first, before they can even consider the other.  
       She kisses his fist once again. “I’m glad you told me. I’m glad I’m not going through this alone.”  
        His breath shudders and it makes him blink. “What did you say?”  
        April lifts her head so she can look into her mate’s eyes. “All this time, I thought you were feeling something completely different than me. But, you weren’t-aren’t. You’re feeling some of the same things I am and it’s a relief. I thought I was this horrible rotten person because only I felt this way.”  
         He blinks at her and ponders over what they share. And then he can see it here and there.  She isn’t ready for a kid, nor is he.  She thought she would break his heart with a deformed kid, and he thought he would burden her with a kid to raise alone.  He thought she was upset with him, and she thought he was upset with her.       
    The pain they thought they caused each other, was more than they could bear. They could bear their own pain, just not the fact they had inflicted it on the other.  
    “Poor Donny,”  Raph finally says.  
    “Poor Donny?”  
     “He’s the only one, unless he or you told anyone else, that knows what we’ve been going through. And he’s been bearing this all alone.”  
     April bites her lip. “Oh damn, I didn’t even think of that. He probably feels a rotten as us. He was all excited, too.  He was looking forward to being an uncle.”  
    “I guess we better tell him that we’re okay?”  
    She nods but snuggles into his tightening arms with a yawn. “Maybe later. I just need to be with you a bit longer before I have to share you with anyone else.”  
    “That’s okay, I think the alcohol is starting to effect me. You better be here when I wake up or I’m going to think our reconciliation was all a dream and be back to my sulking self.”  
      But she doesn’t answer. There’s a soft even breathing to her that he sorely misses. His mate asleep in his arms. With another kiss to her head top, he too soon is asleep.  
  
~~  
     Donny is up late, as usual. For about the fiftieth time this week he pulls up the tracker on April and Raph’s phones. This time though he is pleased to see them together and not moving. By the location, he knows exactly where they are.  
     He goes to their empty den and takes a blanket off their bed. Then quietly he makes his way next door and up to the hammock deck. The other three hammocks are swinging freely in the strong breeze. The fourth one with bottles littered under it barely moves at all and this is the one Donny makes his way towards.   
    For a moment, his steps falter. What if they are more than asleep?  What if one or both of them just couldn’t get past the loss (hence all the alcohol)? What if he will be grieving for his brother and mate as well as their unborn child? They were so in love, and now so distant. “Please don’t let this be the end,’ he silently prays.  
    It’s hard to move. He’s tempted to just turn around and walk away to let Leo or Splinter find them. Any one but himself.    
    Mikey…. Anyone but Mikey, though. It would destroy Mikey if he knew Raph and April died of broken hearts.  Donny swallows hard, shoving his fears aside and moves. Maybe he’s just shared too many romance stories with April. After all, of all people, Raph and April’s love has to be the strongest fairy tale ever told.  
  
     He makes it silently up beside the hammock and peeks in. His heart swells seeing April and Raph tightly curled  and breathing together. They don’t even stir when his foot clatters among the strewn bottles as he tosses the blanket over the top of the couple. He gives them each a kiss to the head and makes his way back to his own den. For the first time in many weeks, sleeps soundly in his own bed.   
       
~~0~~  
       Later the next day, the main room to their home is filled by the sound of April’s shrieks and Raph’s rumbling laughter. Donny dashes out of his room to find Raph running down the ramp with April slung over his shoulder like a captured prisoner.  She is pounding on his back to no avail.  Not because of his hard shell, but because she is red-faced laughing.  
       Raph gives a light swat to her backside threatening to bite into her thigh.  
       This makes her squeal even louder. “Not fair! So not fair!”  
       He only laughs even louder. “Then yield.”  
       “Never!” She manages to get a hand under his belt and pinch a bit of skin to his turtle butt.  
     “HEY!” It is he that shrieks this time. “You minx!”  
     At this point Mikey drops his remote and jumps up on the couch. “What’s the fight so I know who’s side to take?”  
     Raph shakes his head at Mikey. “Stow it squirt. I can take on both you AND April. HEY! Stop that!” He swats her again.  
      “Then yield,” she giggles back.  
       “Alright.” And lets go of her legs. She slides right over his shoulder and is headed for the floor head down.  
       Thankfully she has done some training with these guys and one the first things they taught her, was how to fall. The key to falling his how to land without getting hurt.  So she tucks in her head, plants her hands, lets the elbows bend, and rolls onto her back, then upright to standing. She does have to place a hand to his back due to all the blood rushing back where it’s supposed to be. Now it’s her turn to swat him on his rear. Not quite as easy with the shell, but she knows her mate’s body well enough to get him right over the tail.  
      He turns his head over his shoulder and gives her a wicked look. “Oh, cheeky. I like it.”  
      April ‘s cheeks burn bright in heat to wanting Raph to roll her all over their bed again with that feral look of his. But without protection, she doesn‘t want to risk getting pregnant again, though.  At least not right now.  
    So she uses his family to save them both. She catches Donatello watching them. Perfect, he looks like he could use a little humor in his life as much as she and Raph do.  Laughing,  April she makes a break for him. “Donny, help.  Save me!”  
     Donny gives her a vicious wink though. “And what if I’m siding with Raph in thinking a cheeky minx like you deserves what he dishes out?”  
      Both Raph and April are surprised at him not defending her but siding with Raph. Raph’s grin is wide and chuckles even deeper.  “Oh brains and brawn against you O’Neil?  You haven’t got a prayer.”   
        April saunters back up to him tugging on both tails of his mask, “That’s Mrs. Hamato and don’t you forget it, Raphael.”  
         His large hands settle on her waist and lowers his forehead to hers. “Never.” He gives her a soft kiss to her lips which she leans into.  
          It’s too late for him when he figures out to why she leans so heavily into his kiss.  Both sai are removed from their place on his back by her hands and tossed over to Mikey. She pulls back with a devious grin. He narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “That wasn’t fair.”  
        Laughing Mikey bounces out of his brother’s reach, “And THIS is why I don’t have a girl friend. They are nothing but distractions.”  
         Raph might set her back, but he shakes a finger at her nose. “You will pay for that, April. Trust me, you will pay for that.”  
        A tongue tip slicks over her lip and she whispers, “I look forward to it, Mr. Hamato.”   
        That primal churr of his rumbles out, but before he can act on it, an alarm goes off at Donatello’s computer.  
       “They’re at it again. Let’s get moving!” Leo calls out.  
        Donny and Mikey get their gear and Raph gives her cheek a touch of his thumb. “Keep our bed warm for me?”  
       “I will… just promise me you’ll come home to it.”  
        He strokes her cheek again, “I will never make you a promise I can’t keep, but I will do my damnedest to come home to you every time.”  
       It’s all she needs, and he gives her a last nuzzle before dashing off.  
  
~~0~~  
       A few days later and they are finally ready to make love for the first time since the miscarriage.  Both of them are a little nervous. A crescent moon gives just the prefect soft lighting.   
        He is all stripped down laying in bed on his side, propped up on an elbow when she comes to him with two glasses of champagne. He slips a finger into the loose tie of her sash belt and gives a little tug bringing her even closer. The tie loosens even more, falling to her sides, and parting the silk robe.  He takes one of the glasses from her, sitting up further. With a hand free now, she slips one arm out of her robe, and then the other revealing her red and black negligee. He sips the champagne, then leans in for a tasting kiss.  
      Its a beautiful night for them and April slips her arm around his neck to join his tongue play. The bubbles and tang of the drink has her taking longer, slower strokes to his tongue. Softly he gives off a churr and cups her rear to press them tighter together.  
        “Raph…,” she breathes against his lips as those large fingers play over her firm satin covered body. One finger slips under the black lace. She moans out his name again.  
      “Yes,” he murmurs back. Not an order or even a reply to her saying his name, but an answer that they have both need this for so long. Just because they lost something precious and had a major communications melt down, it doesn’t mean their intimacy is broken. It’s just part of a relationship.  
         His finger slips further in and over the parting of her cheeks. April is left with a soft pant and her mouth going dry even though he is sharing his tongue with her. It’s almost too much to be this close to him all over again, and she has to pull back a moment. It makes him smile to watch her having trouble swallowing down the drink.  
      That devious gleam in his eye, gives her a devious thought of her own. She dips a finger into the tilted flute getting it covered with champagne. Then, making sure she has his attention, dabs a little on each side of her throat.  She redips, and as he swallows tightly, and lets a drop at her throat trickle straight down through her cleavage and below more satin and lace.  
       “April….,” he growls and she smirks. She goes to dip her finger again, but he catches her finger shoving it into his own mouth, toying his tongue around it. “Finish that,” he growls again.  
      She tosses back the rest, and reaches back to set the glass to the beside table. The turn of her head is all he needs. Tossing back his own drink, he doesn’t waste time setting his flute aside.  He just wraps both arms around her, and goes for her neck. He doesn’t just grip her neck with his teeth and wide open mouth, he titillates and toys with her skin with just the tip of his tongue.  Nibbles and plucks play with the main thrumbing artery of her neck before moving around to the front and down her sternum. Soft kiss after kiss nuzzles into her cleavage. Talented teeth pull at the laces of the negligee’s front. He uses the base of the champagne flute to push the shoulder straps off their perch.  
      There is nothing for April to strip from him, thank goodness, because she is relishing his attention fully. It’s also a good thing he has that large hand splayed across her back because his lips are their own dangerous Ninja weapons leaving her completely defenseless.  
      His hand lets the flute slide out to land in the chair at the bedside where his own clothing lays. Now he has both hands free to slowly and seductively remove the silken barrier.  He has it down past her hips, tongue playing with her belly button, and ready to slip it off one leg when she pats at his shoulder.  
      “H-hang on there, Lover.”  
      Raph lays back sliding a hand under his pillow. He pulls out a box and smiles, “I had Casey help me out.”  
       April giggles at the box of condoms and reaches into the bedside table. She holds up a box of her pills. “I had my doctor hook me up.”  
       He laughs with her.  With all they had gone through earlier, now they had each taken the protection upon themselves.   
        “Well never can be too safe. Now help me with this thing because you are just too damned hot and I might get a little carried away.”  
          April tosses her package back into the drawer, and then shimmies out of her sexy attire. With a seductive grin, she takes his box, and yanks one out. “This is going to be fun, Raphael. Let me… (she leans over him letting her breasts play over his chest) take care of you.”   
          Her hand slides down between them and even between her own parted legs to grab his firm member. His head rolls back, arching his neck, hissing to her tightening grasp around him. “Y-yes, please.”  
            
  
           Raph never knew that putting a condom on could be so sexy. He figured it would be clinical and would have to fight to keep his arousal active for the procedure. But not under April’s skilled hands. Not with the way she is absolutely enjoying handling and touching him. It’s almost too much for his first time!  
          As soon as it’s secured though, he flips her to her back and pins her fingers between his to the bed. She wiggles to get him closer and he fully obliges.   
         Since it’s been a while for her as well, he is ever so gentle and slow. Almost too slow for her own needs. She croons her encouragement to feed their lust, but he won’t. He’s gentle. He’s tender in both his hip movements and his kisses.  
     It takes her a moment, but then she realizes he needs this to be slow.  He needs to take his time and savor the feel of them being one once again. It’s been so long for both of them. Not the just sex, but the ability to be completely open and bared to the other.  It’s going to be okay, they are going to be alright.  If anything, they are going to be stronger.  
     And that’s when he does become more determined in his movements and fulfilling her deeper need. He releases one hand so she can touch him like she needs to, and props himself up a little higher for a better angle and so he can watch her face as takes her over the abyss. She’s so beautiful when she reaches the euphoria of their love making. Watching her so in love with being with him, is so powerful. It’s not just the physical lovemaking that pushes his own climax this time, it’s how much he needs her forever in his life. How he needs to make her life a happy one. With their professions, both of them see so much dark of city life. Their private lives do not need to be hell too.  
  
          Not once, but twice April and Raph reach a euphoric climax. Raph rolls back, tucking his hands behind his head with a satisfied hum. April is careful in removing the used condom and setting it aside. With the hand towel at the ready for just this reason, she wipes him down and then herself. He looks so damned satisfied, with a sexy smug smile on his face. She knows it’s not just because he just got laid (to be crass) but because he finally got spend intimate time with his mate without having to worry about anything. Just the bliss they need.  
           April pulls the sheet up over them, but he shoves it so that only his private area is covered and his thick legs are free to be splayed. April follows suit letting it cover her rump, leaving her legs to rub against his and her hands to lay against his chest. He strokes his fingers through her hair. “Are you okay?”     
       “I’m better than okay, Raphael. We are okay.” She tugs on his chin so that his head dips low enough for her slide against his plastron and kiss him tenderly. “I love you always and forever, Raph.”  
        “And I you, April.” he kisses her back then she snuggles into his arms.  
        
         There’s a soft knock at the door. “Hey guys, I know it’s your night off, but Mikey and I are going to head out,” Leo calmly reports. “If we need help, I’ll have Donny come get you. But it’s sounding like a quiet night so far.”  
         “Thanks, Leo. Don’t hesitate to call, please.  I mean it.”  Raph calls back.  
         “He means it too,” April chips in.  
        That does make the leader chuckle.  “Yes, Ma’am.”  There’s a pause and then Leo tells them a bit more quietly, “I really hope I don’t need you tonight.  You guys really need this and…. I need you to need this time. Good night.”  
    They can hear the footsteps and the holler to Mikey fade off into the tunnel.  
     April curls even closer to her mate (if that’s possible) and lets her fingers play over the lines of his chest. “That means a lot.”  
      Raph’s voice catches, “Yeah *cough* it does.”  
      There‘s another long pause, but Raph seems to be distracted.   
      “Do you want to be out there with them?” April finally asks.  
      “Yeah, and no.” He adjusts them so he can cup her cheek and look deep into her eyes. “I love you, and I worry for you and I. But-”  
       Her small hand pats over his chest, “But you have a huge heart, Raph and it has room for lots of love.”  
       Here comes one of his dopey smiles that very few ever get to see. “Yeah.”  
       She plays with a scar on his chest, “Hey, wanna take the van out and spy on them? We could pick up some ice cream while we’re out and make it a date night. And if they get stuck, we’re that much closer.”  
        Raph rolls her onto her back and kisses her soundly. “You are an adventurous one!  I knew I loved you for a reason.”  
        April laughs with him and then together they wander into the shower before heading off to spy on his brothers and bring them a treat during their patrol.  
  
         This is what family is all about.  And when the time is right, they will have their own little family, but for now, the Hamato family is doing well right where they are.


End file.
